Bharat Tex: PM Modi to inaugurate global textile expo on Feb 26

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate India's largest textile event 'Bharat Tex' in the national capital on February 26.

"Bharat Tex will be spread across 22 lakh sq ft exhibition area," with participation from 100 countries and more than 3,000 trade buyers, Secretary in the Textiles Ministry Rachna Shah said on Friday.

"This is our effort at projecting Brand India before an international audience. This will showcase the entire strength of the textile ecosystem which is very unique to India," she added.

An official statement from the Textile Ministry said 46 MoUs will be signed during the 4-day event beginning Monday, including international partnerships.

Briefing the media, she also shared that the Textile Ministry is working with participants of the Rs 10,683 crore-Production Linked Scheme for the sector to resolve any issues and address genuine hardships.

According to officials, the ministry has received some feedback from the industry on expanding the coverage of the PLI scheme in terms of incentives.

The Centre launched the PLI scheme with an approved outlay of Rs 10,683 crore to promote the production of man-made fibre (MMF) apparel, MMF fabrics and products of technical textiles in the country to enable the textiles industry to achieve size and scale and to become competitive.

"We are always trying to resolve and working with our PLI participants to resolve any issues around that. Whatever demands we receive from them, we are trying to bring in as much flexibility as we can to address genuine hardships," Shah said.

She informed that the scheme currently has 64 participants, with 10-15 more applications under review for selection as the ministry had re-opened the window to receive more applications, with investments to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore envisaged.

"We are expecting an investment of Rs 25,000 crore in PLI in MMF, Apparel and Technical Textile with the creation of 2.5 lakh additional jobs," the Textile Secretary shared.

Elaborating upon the challenges around textile exports from India and the competitive advantages enjoyed by countries like China, Vietnam and Bangladesh, she touched upon "tariff disadvantage" in some markets, adding that the government is exploring Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and bilateral trade agreements to overcome this.

On expected investments and estimated job creation from the 7 PM-MITRA parks approved earlier, she said Rs 70,000 crore (Rs 10,000 crore from each park) is expected in the next 4-6 years, creating 20 lakh direct and indirect jobs.